Tuesday, January 27, 2009

New Administration: "Afghanistan is a Mess"

Vice President Joe Biden has made the news by saying: "The bottom line here is we've inherited a real mess." He was speaking about Afghanistan. The Obama administration has a plan to transfer 30,000 new troops to the country. Biden gravely admits, that there will be an "uptick" of action, which probably means more casualties for NATO forces.

A few things are becoming clear, however, and none more stark than the notion of what winning in desperately poor, decentralized and deeply traditional Afghanistan would look like.

It is likely to be less about democracy and more about old-fashioned charity and development work. It will be measured by small, local gains in security and governance that give Afghans a reason to reject the efficiencies and protection offered by the Taliban insurgency.

Not to be too simplistic but President Obama has a chance right now to withdraw honourably. To make a big decision. Pull out of Afghanistan, stop funding Pakistan.

It's not going to happen. More lives and tens of billions of dollars will be wasted in that pit of hell. It's never going to become a western style, liberal democracy. Let's forget the phony idealism.